USOC Selects Salt Lake As Candidate City For A Future Winter Olympic Bid

It’s been over 16 years since the Winter Olympics first came to Utah in 2002. Now the United States Olympic Committee has endorsed efforts for a return of the games.

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The United States Olympic Committee selected Salt Lake City as the US candidate for a future Winter Olympic and Paralympic Bid Friday afternoon. Salt Lake City was selected over Denver, Colorado.

The USOC said in a press release the next open bid will be for the 2030 Games, with a selection to be made by the International Olympic Committee no later than 2023.

Utah Governor Gary Herbert said in a tweet that Utah is proud to have the greatest snow on earth and the fastest speed skating ice in the world, Herbert also said that Utah would love to once again welcome the world’s athletes to Salt Lake City.

Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation director Colin Hilton said the announcement was an affirmation of all the good things that’s been done in Utah since the 2002 Winter Olympics.

“This is a bit of an affirmation to a lot of hard work over the years and that’s what I think everyone’s proud about.” Hilton said.

Although there is a bit of celebration, Hilton says there’s more work ahead.

“We’re excited to put Utah as the candidate city in a future effort but we do have to remain patient and we have to wait for the USOC to decide when they’ll be able to put our region forward." Hilton explained, "Right now that effort is focused on a 2030 process. The timeline for that is still needing to be defined.”

The selection doesn’t guarantee the USOC will push for the 2030 Olympics, it could mean a different Olympic bid.

“What the USOC is saying while the effort is focused on 2030." Hilton continued, "It could be 2034 it could be whatever. It’s only speculation at this point of what’s going to happen with the 2026 process so right now the only thing we can for sure say is that the USOC is committed to putting us forward for that 2030 process and we’ll go from here.”

Hilton encouraged fans to come out and support the big events coming this winter.

"Whether they’re world championships with the snowboard and freestyle or the biathlon world cups at Solider Hollow or world cup speed skating down at the Olympic Oval. We’ve got lots of exciting things and it’s always great to see big crowds out to those events.”

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And then there were two. The Reno-Tahoe area has dropped out of consideration for the 2030 US Olympic bid, leaving just Salt Lake City and Denver. The USOC came to Salt Lake this week to tour facilities and meet with government officials.

Members of the US Olympic Committee along with the organization’s CEO, spokesperson and head of international bids all toured sites as they considered Utah as the US nomination for the 2030 Winter Olympics. Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation Director Colin Hilton reports the tour went very well.

The US Olympic Committee will decide and announce their endorsement for the 2030 Winter Olympics. Salt Lake and Denver are the only two cities left for consideration. Those in favor of bringing the games back are well aware of the potential costs of the game.

Colin Hilton, Director of the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation says through their exploratory committee efforts they’ve calculated the estimate cost of the games in 2018 dollars.

It’s no secret Utah wants to host the 2030 Olympics. The bidding process requires some projections about snow pack in Park City and as Melissa Allison found out, it’s not good or bad… it is what it is.